Dance of Truth
by Freedom Fighter94
Summary: With foreboding shadows and odd dreams. Lexi is feeling more lost by the day, she has to do something, she simply knows it. Someone needs her to an unmeasureable extent. But when the time arrives, if it does, will she fall or fly?
1. Chapter 1

FF94: Ok, so I've had this story sitting gathering dust for _quite_ a while (blasted A-levels!) and now, in a moment of madness I've decided to put it up and see how it goes. Yay!

This may not make sense, as the actual story plot has not completely kicked off yet. So, it might seem a lil random, but it'll all make sense later on down the line ;) Some chars might appear a lil OOC etc.

Disclaimer: All related characters and their associated belongings belong to Warner Bros. _None belongs to me_!

It was a lazy day, to put it mildly. Within the vast expanse of metal, skyscrapers and flying cars a lone bell rung. Once, twice…before it fell silent into the noise of the city. No one took notice much of the bell; they had their hologram watches, their hologram clocks which blazed the front of flashy tall buildings for all to see. It was part of an old church, hidden like lost treasure amongst the city around it. Old and frozen in time, the graying marble resembled granite. Half of it was lost, leaving a desolated haunted skeletal building left behind. The black bell, once bright silver merely clanked in the wind – some used to say it was the warning to those who wish to ignore time, who wished to control it.

The rumors died, as did the people who whispered them. In a time where people had survived things their ancestors feared, many rumors were now being old ignored. In the time of heroes, who needed rumors? Brought around by the very disasters people had predicted would end the world. Of course, the heroes knew otherwise, the meteor that had caused them to mutate had been mutated itself and interfered with – something very abnormal indeed.

"You want it? Can't have it! Want it? Can't have it!"

"Duck…" Ace chimed, grasping his temples firmly beneath his fingers and rubbing strong circles. The mallard paused, flicking his gaze over his shoulder to the rabbit. Duck was at present, adjusting his feathers on his forehead which were refusing to stick more upright. The Gel Xtreme 2.01 was doing little to aid the 'drastic' situation. He was also teasing Rev about some coffee he had, which was supposed to be refined and of quality the roadrunner had never tried.

Giving a super speed roadrunner a super-coffee was merely asking for _a lot_ of trouble. But it wasn't that which had caused the rabbit to cry out in impatience, it was the thud that echoed every time Rev hit the wall, when Duck continually danced the mug of coffee around the dress. The repetitive droning would drive even the most peaceful, calm people insane.

"Yes, oh mighty leader?" Duck asked, flicking an eyebrow up. Before the duck gave a hefty growl of frustration as with a wet smack, the feathers returned to his eyes.

"Either give da thing to him, or don't." The rabbit said rather bluntly, before closing his eyes and resuming his meditation. A pair of quiet eyes watched the living room through one of the doors, she was trying to smile at the typical scene but something held her back. It may be typical actions and emotions, but every time it seemed their team strings stretched all too close to snapping.

Lexi stepped back, as Tech mumbling furiously to himself, nose deep in a print out came hurrying through. Turning on her heel, she slipped into the hangar. Walking to the large metal doors, she paused briefly. It took but a few seconds to activate the open mechanism, she plucked up a jetpack and slid it, inactivated onto her back. She strode out onto the unfolding launch strip, her long, thin legs swaying a little as she peered over the edge. With a flick, she turned backwards to the open air and the open city.

One…two…three, she kicked off backwards. For a moment, she hung unmoving. Then gravity's claws hooked onto her, and pulled her down. She rolled over, focusing on her so distant shadow. This was how she forgot her worries, she wasn't suicidal as she did have the jetpack. But something, an instinct almost, had told her she could do this. Who said only birds were the master of the air? Spreading her arms, her larger jumper flapped madly in the wind. In her shadow, two huge wings unfolded. Then she heard it, for the very first time since beginning this jumping over a month ago.

"Oh my god Lexi! I'll get Rev, hold on!" Tech's worried cries called, as he shouted to the roadrunner.

"No," Lexi whispered, though the wind choked the words back into her mouth. She'd almost completely refined this technique of hers with no help whatsoever. The resonating boom which followed to her sensitive ears announced the roadrunner was now shooting down after her. She could see the huge lamp right there, it was so close. She swung her arms behind, so she was no longer flying and lying down. Instead, she was falling as normal, her legs rocketing down first. It was just there…so close…come on! She was screaming at herself.

Just as she reached her foot out, two arms hooked under her arms and attempted to pull her up. He had the angle wrong, and hesitating at where to place his hands properly caused him to flail her to the left. He let go, his eyes desperately trying to find the best way to maneuver. Lexi gasped loudly as her back slammed into the lamppost, the impact of which flung her off. With a crunch, the jetpack smashed and rocketed off loose from her, whizzing off and detonating in the air- a safety measure Tech had installed.

Rev's long, delicate talons hooked gently around the lamppost, as his built in wings spread apart wider. He kicked off quickly, his reflexes and training giving him strength. In a flash of determination and maturity, he hooked his arm around her waist and rocketed straight upwards. Like lightning defying its direction and purpose. He constantly kept his gaze on her, trying to catch her attention. His GPS was guiding him upwards. He slowed down a little, just flying smoothly upwards. The roaring wind loosing its energy.

"Lex," He said clearly, after coughing. Her bright eyes flickered up to his,

"Yeah?"

"I-know-it-was-a-bit-boring-earlier-but-seriously-oh-and-that-was-pretty-good-looking-but-"

"Dangerous too? Yeah I know," Lexi whispered, looking away. For one of the few times, Rev bit his lip. Slowing up even more, if possible he gave another cough.

"Nah…I mean…if-you-wanna-try-stunts-you-gotta-learn-first-Lexi-" Rev smiled nervously, Lexi smiled faintly.

"Yeah I suppose, that might be the best option huh." Lexi paused again, before looking up to him. "I just have to do it Rev, I can't sit around…something feels odd. Don't you feel it?"

"Ya-mean-Duck's-attitude?" Rev grinned cheekily. Lexi smiled back, and then frowned.

"I'm just worried…" Lexi cut off, perhaps opening up around guys was not the easiest of tasks. Rev just grinned, but secretly he knew she was definitely worrying over something much bigger than she was giving.

Swiftly, so as not to anger the pacing rabbit leader Rev came to an abrupt landing. Lexi slipped swiftly out of his hold, her feet happy at making contact with the ground in a painless way. They all stood still as the landing platform withdrew into the base. No one said anything; even Duck had fallen into a serious silence. With a curt nod from Ace, the guys slowly withdrew from the hangar.

"Not you Lexi, you stay here with me. Alone." His abrupt, brash tone sent shivers down Lexi's back as her body locked her to no movement whatsoever. Rev gave her a worried look, his eyes shining with some kind of apology. She shook her head, smiling gently to reassure him. He exited quickly, the silence from their leader creating a much more angry dominance over them. In slow motion, the door swung shut. Lexi turned around, her loose jumper hanging by her still, thin body. One slipped off of her shoulder.

Ace faced away from her, staring out of the windows. Lexi looked down, one arm clinging across her body to her other arm.

"Any particular reason why?" Ace began softly, though she could tell from the years of being with him, he was trying to keep the angrier emotions under check.

"No. I just had to," She was lying, but the real reason sounded far more ridiculous than this.

"You just had to? You just had to throw yourself off of our building?" Ace whip lashed around, eyes locking to hers. He gripped her shoulders tightly. "Do you know how scared I was? Looking out, and seeing you falling towards the ground."

"I…I…"She stammered,

"Lexi, I know we haven't had a lot to do…and we've all been far too anxious about what could be plotting against us…"

"But you don't know how much!" She burst suddenly, "Sure we're all scared and on edge, but this is snide comments, and insults and impatience. That's ten time worse than whatever might happen!" She cried, Ace's eyes softened and he placed his warm hands onto her cold cheeks.

"We aren't breaking up Lex, we're still the strong team and we always will be." He cooed, smiling. Her face lightened, and she smiled slightly.

"You promise?" She whispered, though her eyes and her soul wanted to run off and cry alone. Even the leader couldn't see it.

"Promise." He smiled, "Now, c'mon lets go get a good film to watch. Yeah?" He asked, walking past her, she nodded her approval. She waited until he left, before a single tear managed to break its hold and slide down her weary face.

"Why can't you believe me Ace?" She whispered, leaning her forehead against one of the nearby windows. Her hands rested on the cold glass, but she didn't care. As if crying with her, the heaven's opened and the rain began to thunder down. Perhaps she was just worried, part of her mind whispered. Maybe hormones?

Realizing that crying wasn't the best solution right now, she tried to steady her breathing. Slowly, she rose her gaze up and out of the windows. It was then, that part of her fears was confirmed. A pair of bright, lightning blue-silver eyes locked to hers. Its hand pressed to glass where she had hers, but they were on the other side. It was the same person who had been haunting her dreams, and her time alone. A tiny glint of gold glimmered on their chest. She backed up, but the glass didn't stop it.

They just moved through the glass, as if it weren't there at all. Hand outstretched to her, it moved to her. Just as it was about to make contact with her in desperation, a crackle that blended almost into the thunder echoed out. They pulled back, spinning around to the windows. With a final look to her, it quickly gave her a reassuring squeeze on her armor-covered arm. The lightning flared up, and with a noise resembling a clock chiming they were gone.

Lexi merely sat there, her breath returning. She blinked once or twice, then gulped nervously. Had she truly gone insane?


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to the lovely reviewers! They made my day :3

There was a question from LANA 8D relating to the hormones: hormones can give emotional highs and lows, as hormones can have a say on how you perceive things, and how you react. For example, one moment you're happy over something, then the next you could be really upset over it. Lexi is trying to make sure that her hormones aren't making her emotionally unstable, which could perhaps cause her to imagine things. Make sense? XD If not, please tell me :D

_Note: A lot_ of writing that comes up in _Italics_ is a dream, or vision...or something similar o.O

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything but the plot *sigh* _it all belongs to Warner Bros! _

_/_

It had taken a considerably long time for Lexi to drag herself up, she didn't know why. Perhaps the clock had decided to turn against her, she gave a indifferent sigh and left. The thunder still rumbled outside, soaking and scaring anyone brave enough to dare to venture outside. Slowly, and half-heartedly, Lexi wandered down the abnormally long corridor. Shouts burst into life as she walked past the living room, she knew she'd agreed to watch a film but…well; she simply wasn't up for it. Pressing the button, with a blast of wind, her bedroom door opened up. Fumbling around, she managed to find the light switch. A dim, yellow light hugged the room.

Her hammock styled bed stood alone in the middle of the room, changing quickly into her pajamas she was more than happy to let her head hit the pillow. Her body stopped where it had met the bed, her long, pale arms flopped over either side of the bed. Her head tilted to the side, so she could lie staring out of the window. She normally fell asleep quite easily, for someone who had both snoring friends and super hearing abilities. However, for the last month it had been more of a collapse, wait and nod off kind of sleep.

Around one month ago, the dreams arrived. It wasn't like she didn't dream, but these were far more dark and cruel. One shadowy figure, her, the thunder and a chiming. Again, again and again till she could wake up still hearing the maddening chiming. Each time, someone close to her was ripped from her and then –

"Lexi?" A male voice whispered hurriedly at her door, snapping her out of her daydreaming.

"Door's open Rev," She sighed, pushing herself up so she was sitting up on the bed. With a flash, the door was open and shut with the familiar blur of red.

"Hey there….were you about to go sleep? I'm sorry, it can wait I mean-"

"Rev, if I was going to nod off, I wouldn't have let you in." She smiled faintly, in her reassuring tone. The pacing bird slowed slightly.

"Well-I-was-kinda-listening-into-your-conversation-with-Ace-and-I-remembered-how-you-really-wanted-to-do-those-flying-stunts-and-stuff-so-well…" Rev bombarded Lexi's brain and ears with his stream of words, so much so that sat her heads in her hands and waited for him to stop. "Night-is-the-best-time!" He exclaimed, before taking a long, well-deserved breath. Lexi snapped her head up.

"You mean you're not angry too?" Lexi's mouth was slightly parted, in shock.

"Nah, I mean come on if I was angry at ya for wanting to do flying stunts, then I shouldn't really be so grateful about flying. I couldn't very well before the meteor, remember? And it is pretty addicting." He added, smiling.

"I just can't get the landing properly, I just want to be able to fall, kick off on something and keep flying. Rather than stop, and then wait to go." Lexi blurted, the speed of her own words surprising herself. Of course, her sudden speed was of little concern to the roadrunner.

"You seemed okay, from what I saw. But, you keep tensing up about something. That tension kinda makes you muck up." He grinned, trying not to get on her angry side. Duck's all too regularly burnt backside was a constant reminder.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I can prac-"

"Not in the day, but I can pretend to know nothing about you doing it a night." He said cheekily. Lexi returned the grin. "Just please, not tonight with all the thunder and stuff. Ok?"

"Fine, ok deal…" She smiled; he gave a wink then vanished from her room just as she was about to ask him something. She rolled her eyes, _boys_, she thought. She leant back into the depth of her bed, before allowing her eyes to slide shut.

_The wind picked up boldly around her feet, as she stood in the middle of what appeared to be an open room. No ceiling, barely any remaining walls. She walked forwards, trying to establish her whereabouts. Pausing at the edge, she glanced downwards. Her stomach dropped, but her heart began to rapidly pound to her ears. It was their base. But only the tall building was left, the spires were gone. The dome, which was the heart of the base was a semi-circle made of black, powerless glass. _

_The top of the base had been completely sliced off. She took another step out, but a crunch from behind her stopped her. Her sensitive ears were trying their hardest to pick a definite location. Seeing a familiar object on the floor, she kicked Ace's old training staff up into her hands in one movement. She spun, her uniform flashing in the sunset orange light. The shadowy person faced her, twin sliver swords poised and flashing brilliantly in the light._

"_I don't know who you are, or what you want. But I want you to go, and leave me alone." Lexi stated, switching to her 'hero' personality. Her eyes lit up, the bright pink colour swirling. The only answer she received was that of one of the swords being launched at her. Ducking to the side, she kicked forwards swinging the staff around across her front. With a clang, the second sword was moved to intercept the strike. Then they moved past her, a kick from their part causing her to stumble madly forwards. _

_She turned, growling in frustration. They held up their empty hand, a spinning flash meant the first sword was returning to them. Rushing forward on impulse, she connected the staff with the side of their head. They collided with the ground, Lexi went to back up but the shadow saw it coming. With a sharp yank on her ankle, and a nasty sounding crack, she was brought down. The shadow kicked upwards, standing up almost elegantly. Lexi watched them, as they watched her. No movement, no noise. They bent down slowly, so as not to startle her._

"_Keep your defense up. Your hearing can help you further; you just have to look more at defense not attack for now." They whispered, for the first time to have spoken to her, the first time the violence had stopped. Lexi couldn't tell whether they were male or female from the tone, but their words held no anger or hate. They stood up, their long cloak still hiding far too much of them. _

_Only their silver eyes could be seen glowing down at her. Then they turned, standing once more at the edge of the building. Facing forwards, they glanced back to where Lexi was desperately trying to sit up._

"_Slow down, you'll catch up. Don't worry," They smiled, Lexi's confused emerald eyes pleading more words, more answers. They spread their arms before leaping and diving off of the edge. Lexi grimaced, clutching her ankle as she swung forwards to watch them. _

_They fell fast, their cloak spreading around them, a brilliant flash of silver chasing down after them. The sun was back, her dreams lightening for the first time in a long time. They bounced off of the lamppost, and flew upwards and silver trail marking the air like a shooting star. They didn't slow down, but instead picked up speed as they rocketed upwards to the clouds. As they pierced the clouds, the light burst through brighter again. Lexi closed her eyes, feeling warmth hit her face. _

"Lexi, are you getting up today or not?" Duck cried, as he stormed past her bedroom and towards the kitchen – he was never ever a morning person. Lexi's eyes opened slowly, but she blinked them shut as the light from the sun was too much. Again, she tried to open them once more. The warm sunlight tickled her cheek, innocent rays glimmering as if it had never thundered at all the previous night.

"What a dream," She whispered breathlessly, her eyes twinkling. It didn't exactly make sense, but it sure had done something- like the person had deliberately made her feel better for something. She lazily stretched, lounging around in her bed. Then the alarm exploded into life, squealing and shouting it whirred and buzzed. Her eyes snapped back open, and she practically flew out of her bed and to her wardrobe. It took little time for them all to be running into the briefings room, all uniformed up.

The screen buzzed, then opened up.

"Before breakfast?" Duck cried, throwing his arms into the air. The woman's eyes narrowed, as she glared at him.

"My apologies Duck, but it is important. You can eat later," She said with an air of sarcasm. Duck, of course, took it as she was being friendly to him.

"Ignore 'em, Zadavia. Tell us what's happened, and where we need to go." Ace said, rolling his eyes at the mallard.

"The main city centre, to the tall clock –" She began,

"Don't tell me it's broken." Duck interrupted, folding his arms. Zadavia ignored him, only giving him a further glare.

"Early this morning, several people reported being attacked by something that had come from the clocks. A couple from a nearby building had confirmed seeing several shapes forming out of the clockwork. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but I want it stopped. No one was seriously hurt, but with midday approaching it's a risk we cannot afford to wait and see if it happens."

"Midday? Oh no!" Duck cried again, in exasperation.

"It's only the busiest point of the day," Tech mocked Duck's tone, as the two gave each other furious glares.

"C'mon Loonatics. Don't worry Zadavia, we've got it covered." Ace smiled his signature smile, before they all hurried out of the room to the hangar. All of the jetpacks were fuelled, and ready to go. Though Lexi knew she had at least two pairs of eyes watching her as she pulled hers on. In their formation, the Loonatics blasted off for the centre square. Rev, being the fastest came to landing in front of the huge clock tower first.

Hurriedly, the others skid to a stop behind him.

"Quarter-to-twelve-man-I-can-feel-the-excitement!" Rev gushed, grinning. Ace narrowed his eyes, unsheathing his sword he glanced around.

"Tech, ya think ya can make the old clock 'ere chime?" He called, Tech grinned as his eyes swirled to their green colour. His green aura surrounded his hands as he lifted his palms up.

"Easy," He replied, as he brought his palms together a loud tick sounded the air before the chime rang out. The boom exploded into the city, repeating again.

"Nothing! Just a pair of drunken people," Duck muttered, as he strode forwards to the clock. He summoned up one of his watery eggs, before launching it up at the clock. 

"Duck!" Ace and Lexi cried at him. Slam suddenly gave a startled cry, as the ground began to shudder. The clock face began to glow brighter, before a large shape ripped out of it, howling in anger. It launched off, its shadow falling around Duck.

"Mummy…" He whimpered, as he teleported out a fraction of a second early to avoid being crushed underneath it. The creature flexed out, its six long legs smashing the concrete underneath its long, sharp feet. It rose a very long, barbed tail above them, as its pinchers moved away from its fanged mouth. It was a large, mechanical looking scorpion. It wasted no time in trying to strike each one of the Loonatics on the ground.

"Attack it from the air!" Came Ace's shout, to which five members launched into the air, their jetpacks roaring furiously under the speed and sudden demand. Lexi shot up to one of the buildings nearby, as did Ace and Tech to another one. Slam growled menacingly down at the scorpion, which turned around to look up at him. It tilted its head to the side, its glass eyes scoping the Tasmanian devil and its surroundings. Slam stuck his tongue out at it, his eyes glowing a serene purple.

He stopped, when he saw fire igniting around the top of the barb on the scorpion's tail. It launched at him, attached on a chain. He clung ferociously onto it, as it carried him madly around in the air. He tightened his grip on it before slamming into the ground, and yanking the scorpion over his head, as he held the chain. With a pleasing crunch, the scorpion met ground. Slam gave an excited laugh,

"Wjoigoksdos broken!" He cried gleefully. With a heart groan, the legs joints rotated allowing the scorpion to stand back up. It whiplashed its tail up into the air, which caused Slam to fly off. It charged forward, on shaky, sparking legs.

"Aim for the legs, Loonatics! While it's distracted!" All of them launched into the air above it. Ace's lasers cut down, blasting through its middle leg. It gave a cry, before slumping to the side.

"Ha!" Duck jeered. Then, a mechanical roar answered his tease. He turned, watching as a large mechanical cat exploded out of the clock's face.

"Another one?" Lexi exclaimed, as the cat smacked Duck off to the side and face first into one of the parks. The cat crouched by the side of the fallen scorpion, before roaring up at them once more.

"Hey-mr-kitty-come-here-chase-the-birdy!" Rev grinned, calling down to the cat as he raced down towards it. Shooting over its head, he zoomed off with cat watching him. It leapt forwards into a run, two built in rocket boosters fixed on its hind legs upping its speed. Ace and Tech rocketed after the mad pair. Lexi launched down to follow them, but the chiming of the clock announced it was midday. She turned, hearing an all too familiar whirring from the clock's face.

Yet another shape was pulling its body free of the clock, but this wasn't nearly as big as the two mechanical animals. No, this was person.

"Lexi, fire at the cat now!" Ace's order rang to her ears, for the briefest of seconds she whiplashed away from the person and to the cat. The sun had vanished behind grey clouds, of which were growing in size and swelled in colour. A rumble of distant thunder announced the arriving storm was back for vengeance.

"What are waiting for? Fire for goodness sake!" Duck screamed up at her, but she ignored him. Something within the storm was telling her to wait, wait for the attack…. don't make it pointless. The lightning flashed brightly, as the storm met the city. The cat had now lost interest in the bird, and now came charging down the street to the airborne rabbit. The thunder exploded around her, as did the lightning as she focused on the heart of the cat. She spread her arms apart quickly, and as the lightning met her body she fired her attack.

The pink blast imbued with lightning thundered down to the cat, in a large strike of pulsing, pink bolts. It could do nothing, as the attack ripped through it. The metal and machinery blew apart on impact, but the attack didn't stop. The bolt continued on to the scorpion, ripping through its body and causing it to similarly detonate. Then it died away, Lexi however still had lightning rippling over her suit as she turned to the person by the clock. She balled her fist, lightning curling over her fingers.

Her eyes burned as pink fire, rather than just a mere pink glow. She narrowed her eyes, but froze when she could hear them. They were laughing, and from their tone she knew it to be a male.

"You think the best idea is to laughing pal?" She called to him, he grinned.

"My apologies, but I was merely surprised. I don't remember you being able to that so young, Lexi." He smiled, as he blasted down to her. He hovered no more than ten feet away from her. Her ears parted slightly, to allow her attack to charge back up.

"I wouldn't Lexi, I want to see how strong you are but that's a pathetic attack for you. I was expecting _more_ from you of all of them." He shrugged, "Perhaps I arrived too early, oh well." He muttered then quick as flash he launched forward and secured his hand around her neck. The sudden cut of wind caused her to gasp, as her eyes dimmed back to their bright green self. He held her throat tightly, as he took her arm in his. As he brought their arms up, he fired the excessive lightning from her body down at the Loonatics who were hurrying up to them.

They scattered just in time, as the merciless lightning blew a deep hole where they had just been.

"Such a shame," He whispered to her, as she tried to struggle out of his iron grip around her neck. "I didn't even get to see you properly…I'll mourn later," He smirked; Lexi was gasping words unable to pass her lips. Just as the darkness clawed in, air rushed back into her lungs. The man was ripped from her and launched into a nearby building, lasers pushing him into it with a great amount of force. Without any strength left in her, Lexi began to fall towards the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Sorry this took so long, I've had quite a few bad computer problems. :/ Anyways, here enjoy. ^.^

Disclaimer: Everything that is related to/ belongs to Loonatics Unleashed goes to WB.

A hand gripped Lexi's wrist tightly, lowering her steadily down to the solid ground below. The sound of glass smashing into the ground below was the loudest noise that met Lexi's ears. She wasn't unconscious, she was just keeping her eyes closed to prevent the dizziness from completely overwhelming her. Her eyes cracked open, and she remembered the fierce laser blast that had saved her life.

"Ace," She croaked, but to her dismay and shock, Ace was nowhere near her. A long cloak flicked gently in the smoky wind beside her, so she turned to them. Her head hurt, as did her neck, but she struggled to sit up.

"What happened? How did you just use _his_ power?" Lexi whispered, her green eyes narrowing in suspicion at the thin cloaked figure standing next to her. Right now, her mind realised there were two cloaked people in the area – the one who'd just tried to kill her, and the one that had saved her. Her mind raced with thoughts, as her memories flickered back to her dreams – involving two cloaked people, one good, one bad. One was masculine and the other feminine.

Her eyes must have shown her piecing the information together slowly, for the cloaked person next to her patted her head softly, as if understanding the confusion Lexi felt. She batted the hand weakly away, forcing herself up – she was a superhero, which meant that she couldn't just sit on the floor all day. The cloaked person next to her twitched in apprehension suddenly, and Lexi became aware of the enemy cloaked man rocketing down towards her. The two clashed violently, attempting to overpower each other.

Lexi stepped back, her legs shaking furiously. The one with the silver cloak, the good person, seemed to be protecting Lexi with as much life and strength as they had. Yet, there moves were elegant and refined – years of combat training, Lexi presumed. The last dream she had had, the one with the silver cloaked person had helped perk her up. But that didn't mean she would want the person from the dream suddenly in front of her in real life. If it wasn't for Tech's form landing behind her, and his very firm grip on her shoulder, Lexi would've sworn she was dreaming right now.

They were both from her dreams, both of them. Lexi shook her head faintly in disbelief, as Tech's metallic shield appeared in front of her.

"Are you alright Lexi?" He asked, she flicked her gaze to him.

"Nothing serious broken, so yeah...I'm fine," She shrugged, smiling lightly. It was clear her smile relaxed him, as a smile broke through his worried features.

"Good," Tech commented, strengthening his shield as more rubble and glass tumbled down onto the streets from the fierce fighting above.

"Do we know who those two are yet?" Ace's voice suddenly sounded, accompanied by the roar of a jetpack as he landed behind Tech's shield.

"No, they're both using technology which is deflecting my attempts to scan any data from them at all. The technology is also...well, I've never seen anything like it before – and I _know_ my technology inside and out," Tech flinched, Ace nodded,

"I don't disbelieve ya Tech," Ace told the coyote, but his gaze returned to the fighting pair of cloaked people above.

"We need to get people out of here, there are only a few people left but I don't know how much this violence is going to escalate because I have no idea of their weapons' capabilities," Tech stated, and Ace nodded.

"Well, since you've got that shield, call Rev and Slam and the three of you can help get the last stragglers out of the way, the rest of us need to deal with these two." Ace instructed, murmurs of agreements came from the two either side of him as they put the plan into action. Lexi, after having her jet pack sorted out, flew up into the air alongside Ace – Duck joined them within seconds.

The two cloaked figures were around twenty feet apart, facing each other off. Their cloaks twisted around them, silver on one side while black was on the other. The cloaked man in black seemed to realise three Loonatics had returned to the air, for he turned away from his fight and instead faced his attention to them.

"Well hello again," He greeted smoothly, Lexi saw a flicker of anger in Ace's eyes, but their ever-always cool leader kept his calm attitude.

"I don't appreciate strangers turning up and attacking this city, and my team-mates." Ace spoke, clearly and just as smoothly. At the mention of an attack on a team-mate, Lexi shuddered faintly when the man's eyes flicked to her – but both of her male companions seemed to detect this, for they moved subconsciously forwards.

"I am no stranger, Ace." The man spoke, his tone now cool and unwavering. He reached up, and pulled his hood down.

"You're supposed to be in prison," Duck exclaimed, as they took in the man's appearance.

"I am in prison, in _your_ time. In my time, I am the most powerful villain there is and I rule this city," The man grinned spreading his arms and twirling around so as to emphasise the size of the city that was apparently under his control. He seemed rather too pleased at the shock and confusion on their faces. His green hair, once in a Mohawk, was now much longer and fell down straight to his shoulders. He looked to be older, more into his early twenties, but he was definitely more muscular and well-built. His armour was still the combination of black and red, but it had small ticking clocks sewn everywhere on the armour. A central clock, with more than five different hands, ticked away on the chest plate of his armour. He'd upgraded for sure.

"Do you still go by Time Skip, or do you have a more ridiculous name now?" Duck taunted openly, wiggling mockingly. Time Skip's eyes narrowed,

"I wouldn't be mocking me, if I were you." He smiled darkly, the clock on his chest suddenly whirring faster than expected and it glowed brightly. Blood red light channelled around the armour eerily, and slowly the other clocks began to speed up to match that of the central clock whirring relentlessly away. Now, he rose his hand as a large black ghostly clock formed at his palm. A red laser ripped from the surface, though it looked more like a combination of lightning and fire. Duck laughed mockingly once more, but squeaked when the fiery attack pursued him and smashed through anything in the way of its path.

More lasers burst off of his armour, with their tracking abilities they gave the Loonatics a real run for their money, small portals would open up and direct the attacks out in surprise ambushes though luckily the gang of superheroes had just enough wit and reaction time to move before becoming badly hurt. However, Ace's lasers just seemed to build them up further, swelling them up but never to the point of explosion. Tech ducked down and hid in the safety of a building while he racked his brain for any kind of idea that would help turn the tables in their favour. Then, he had an idea at long last; his eyes were transfixed upon Time Skip's armour, Tech's eyes lit up in their brilliant green as he lifted up a long thin metal pole from one of the nearby buildings. He swung it up furiously, pushing as much momentum and strength into this strike as he could. It blasted off, even turning a little red hot at the end. Unfortunately, Time Skip turned and so it ended up ripping into only his shoulder armour.

Crackling sounds filled the air, and Time Skip yelled out in a mixture of pain and anger. The laser attacks blew apart into harmless red dust, which engulfed each of the various Loonatics that had been being chased down a different path. Tech threw him arm into the air, and grinned happily until he noticed Time Skip turning towards him. In one blink of an eye, Time Skip was hovering in the centre main street, the next he had vanished. Tech narrowed his eyes, his instincts telling him to turn around. Sure enough, there he was behind him.

"That was rather impressive, for you Tech E. Coyote." Time Skip smiled, but this changed to a smirk at the coyote's surprised expression. "What's the matter wolf, do you not expect your enemies to be that wise?"

"Not ones like you, no." Tech shrugged, but his eyes were suspicious as they shone in the flickering lights of the building.

"I am not the Time Skip you faced before, my teenage years in prison wizened me unlike most of the other thugs in there. That's why I control this city in the future."

"In the future huh? Sounds too big of a job for a child like you," Tech retorted, Time Skip chuckled dryly and with little humour in the tone.

"You can laugh Tech, laugh while you still can." Time Skip's tone was mature-sounding but yet incredibly dark and casual, so much so that for the first time in a long time Tech had to resist the urge to shudder in front of a villain.

"No one threatens my team-mates, you got that?" Ace's voice snapped the villain's cold gaze away from the coyote, as the rest of the Loonatics landed behind Tech to back him up and face against the enemy.

"I do as I please," Time Skip replied coolly, as he began to stride forwards towards the Loonatics – this unnerved them, for his pace was neither quick nor slow, nor was it agitated or impatient. It gave an air of calmness, and strength and this was something no villain had carried in a very long time – most were just better-than-average thugs that the Loonatics dealt with in their spare time.

"There's just one thing I don't understand about you," Tech suddenly spoke up again, Time Skip glanced to him.

"Do enlighten me," Time Skip said, with an air of boredom.

"If you control this city in the future, why have you come back in the past?" Tech questioned, Time Skip fell silent, his eyes becoming emotionless.

"It can't be that you've had a change of heart," Duck sneered, but there were a few murmurs of agreement from the others.

"There are always thorns in our sides, something you heroes won't understand." Time Skip replied, without any kind of emotion again, his poker face continuous, however Lexi detected a look from him – something fiery and angry, before it dulled back into the monotone lack of emotions.

"That's because we good guys have a job to do, you choose to be one the bad side." Ace shrugged his shoulders, Time Skip snorted.

"Is that supposed to change my mind?" Time Skip asked, though they knew his answer had it been a serious question. A clock chime rang out, as Time Skip slowed down time and strolled once more, but this time between the Loonatics, pushing their frozen bodies each and every direction. He lowered himself down into a crouch at the edge of the broken window, sitting upon the windowsill and observing the suspended city. A flash of silver announced the cloaked person lowering down, in a defensive not offensive manner – they were keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't try to harm the stunned Loonatics behind them.

"You're determined to stop me, aren't you?" Time Skip commented dryly, noting that his time spell was not affecting his enemy in front of him, as their silver cloak shone in the sunlight and annoyed his eyes.

"You were expecting me to sit there and let you do whatever you like? You destroyed everything I had; therefore, my sole existence now is to stop you." The female voice spoke lowly, almost in a gruff manner as the two glared towards each other.

"Heh, well, of course I was expecting you. But that doesn't mean you'll stop me, _they _didn't," Time Skip knew he had hit a tender nerve, as the female figure tensed up slightly as if trying to control their anger for a moment, then they sighed heavily before relaxing and focusing themselves once more.

"Don't think I am incapable of stopping you, underestimation is going to be your downfall, Time Skip." The figure spoke at last, Time Skip chuckled deeply, giving them a wicked grin before jumping off of the building and spiralling downwards into the mass of frozen cars before he vanished from sight. The second clock chime announced time was resuming its movement again. The silver cloaked figure kept their gaze down on where Time Skip had vanished into, but he was easily capable of using a faster time to speed himself up compared to everyone else –this she knew.

"Hello there," A voice startled the cloaked figure, who brought her gaze back up to the building and found each Loonatic staring up at her with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion though in Lexi's case it was more relaxed, but there was still wariness in her stance and eyes just like her companions. The figure didn't reply, she just nodded clearly, to which Ace tilted his head.

"Can you not speak?" Ace asked, the figure could be seen to smile then, she answered.

"I can, but I prefer not to." The figure spoke quickly, so much so that most of the Loonatics only just managed to understand what she said, but for Rev it was easy, he could manage to catch all of anyone's words.

"Hey! You-can-speak-as-quickly-as-me!" Rev smiled brightly and enthusiastically, the figure paused for a moment and looked away from them.

"Rev, buddy, she said she doesn't like talking that much…best not to press…" Tech laid a hand on his shoulder, and the roadrunner softened his features with a sympathetic look.

"So…you've encountered Time Skip before? You can just nod there, if you'd rather that." Ace asked, then offered for the second part to her. The figure seemed to accept this, then nodded to his question.

"And, what he said is true, he's from the future?" Tech posed the question this time, the figure nodded once more.

"Hkrrrok, you?" Slam garbled, Rev was about to translate when the figure nodded.

"So wait, you're from the same time then? Why on earth should we trust _you_ then? You could be working with _him!_" Duck folded his arms, and flicked the feathers on the top of his head back a little as he raised his head indignantly. The figure shrank back, but not in fear, more in anger or sadness. No movement, no words spoken by them, all they did was with a crackle of energy – just like Duck's abilities – they teleported away.

"_Duck!" _His team-mates snapped, while Slam just growled unhappily towards the mallard.

"Don't pretend that it didn't cross your minds either!" Duck hollered back, his hands upon his hips.

"That doesn't mean you just blurt it out," Ace retorted just as quickly and fiery-like back.

"Besides, they saved my life Duck – if she were working with him, she would've let him kill me there and then." Lexi pointed out, Duck threw his arms up into the air.

"They could be doing that to get your trust, all of these villains are the same. How do you know that's not their intention?"

"Do you still consider this Time Skip to be the same as the teenage we faced? Look at how he acted Duck, these sort of people don't mess around – they just do what they want to, when it suites them." Tech spoke solemnly, Duck rolled his eyes and started his jetpack.

"I didn't ask for the lecture," Duck commented, Tech growled softly, ears arching backwards.

"Look-guys-let's-just-get-back-and-think-some-more-first-because-I-think-we've-all-just-had-a-long-day-and-need-to-clear-up-our-thoughts." Rev interjected, breaking off the building tension in the group.

"That's…a pretty good idea," Tech admitted, as he launched off into the air beside Ace.

"Pretty deep for you," Lexi teased the roadrunner, who smiled back and gave a laugh in response. As they flew quickly off, dodging between the city that was recovering from its shock and speeding back up for the afternoon, Lexi paused and spun around. There she saw the silver cloak fluttering in the breeze up upon one of the taller commercial office buildings. They seemed to be watching her as well. At that one brief moment, they both seemed to think of the same thing, not that they could hear each others' thoughts.

_Later, we talk_.


	4. Chapter 4

Next chapter, enjoy^^ Sorry for the really long delay! =(

Lexi moved down one of the long, winding corridors present in the Loonatics' Headquarters. She wasn't thinking too much about anything, she was just wandering wherever her feet decided to go. She'd made sure all the guys were okay, even though they seemed a little irritable at points, they seemed fine. Lexi shuddered as her hand brushed her neck, there was a small bruise forming that Time Skip had left for her.

"Hey Lex," Ace greeted, as he exited a room near to her and halted his movement in front of her.

"Hey, how are you?" She asked casually, leaning back against the wall.

"You know me Lex, fine as always, we had a good workout today." Ace grinned faintly, but the female rabbit knew her leader well enough to know that the fight was bothering him. Perhaps he was curious about the silver cloaked figure too?

"Time Skip is pretty…pretty good," Lexi admitted after a while, Ace's gaze snapped to hers.

"But there's only one of him Lex, we're a whole team. Tactics, that's all we need. Tech is looking at some of his gizmo-gadget devices, to give us some kind of advantage." Ace told her, it was meant to sound reassuring but there was the underlying hint of uncertainty in those words.

"We just need to use our numbers effectively, then?" Lexi didn't press the matter; she sensed her leader needed an agreement of his thoughts, a 'nodding of the head' so to speak at his plans.

"Exactly," He flashed his smile, before heading of down the corridor whistling some tune that had entered his mind. She kept listening as she kept walking, this time she knew where she was going – she wanted a jetpack, even if she had to disobey his orders. But she wasn't going to fly straight off with it, she was just going to take it in advance – Rev's tip of flying later in the night was going to go into practice. She plucked up one of the older models before taking it back to her room – her enhanced sense of hearing was useful for avoidance.

She hid the jetpack in her bed, underneath her blankets before heading back out to the living room to sit with the guys for the rest of the night until they all went to bed. The evening passed with reasonable pace, even though tempers still flared here and there, everything generally went smoothly. Ace walked Lexi back to her room, it being one door down from his. They didn't say anything, they didn't need to – a small smile and nod was just as good as saying 'goodnight, sleep tight.' Lexi didn't change though, she just pulled the blankets up to her neck and folded her ears down – it was dark, no one would come in anyways.

Again her abilities allowed her another advantage, having spent so much time around the guys, she had subconsciously learnt their breathing patterns – even their sleeping breaths. And she could hear any odd noises, such as someone moving around or something of the like. _I never realised how my powers could be used like this, they've developed just like I have. I only used to use them in my 'career' not personal affairs. _Then she paused, this had started off as a personal affair, but with the villain's arrival it was becoming apparent that this wasn't going to stay small – whether she wanted that or not.

She almost nodded off, the warmth and comfort of her bed easing her almost to sleep – when a silver coloured flash of light streaked across her face as if something had moved past the window. _She's here, whoever she is, she's turned up! _Lexi's thoughts were excited, as she pulled on the jetpack without haste and as quickly but quietly as she could, slipped down the corridor and opened one of the doors to let her out. She didn't care about sleep, not one inch – something she knew she was going to regret tomorrow, but not now. The jetpack hissed as the flames ignited allowing her to launch off into the air. She kept upwards, looking for signs of the person she was searching for.

Then she saw them, she saw her standing on top of the headquarters. Her silver cloak hid everything, aided by the darkness of night, but her head was angled upwards – towards Lexi. Lexi smiled to herself as she pushed towards the woman, but then the butterflies hit her in the stomach. What if Duck was right and she was a bad guy? Lexi would be all alone, and _very _high up. She cleared her mind, she had to do this – she'd never forgive herself if she didn't, something in her heart told her she had to be the one to talk to this figure. As she flew down getting even closer to the figure, it felt more like she was back in her dream.

There was no one else around, apart from those two. The way the silver cloak glittered in the moonlight made the air around the figure glow a soft pale white, as if she were some kind of ghost – not an actual person standing there before Lexi. _How should I introduce myself? My name or-or something, perhaps the fact I'm not an enemy? _Lexi's mind stuttered around as she landed on the roof, but she moved no further than that. Her legs didn't seem to want to move, if anything they felt a little shaky. The figure didn't move either, though she didn't seem to have the air of someone arguing with themselves over silly matters such as appearance or greeting – Lexi did however.

"Hello," Lexi said, unsure of how loud or quiet to speak, "I know you don't like to speak, so I'll try and like, ask easy questions…so you only have to talk when necessary." Lexi babbled, her bold confidence seemingly gone when confronted by this woman.

"Quite the contrary, I am happy to speak to you, don't worry. And good evening to you, before I forget." The figure replied, tone light as she gave a slight inclination of her head towards Lexi. Her tone was calm, but yet firm and strong like she was used to speaking as a leader. Though Lexi couldn't see the woman, she could make out her outline. The woman was thin, curved but she was strong – her fighting today had shown she was quite the expert fighter. This made Lexi feel another emotion, jealousy. It was faint, but it was still there.

"Wait, you're happy to speak to me…but not the guys?" Lexi snapped her mind away from her scrutiny of the woman.

"Yes, I cannot give myself away to them like I can to you." The woman answered, her tone honest.

"Even though you hide yourself from me?" Lexi folded her arms, the woman gave a noise that sounded like a laugh, but Lexi didn't see the joke. "Why is our situation different?"

"You and I are very similar," Was the simple reply, and then the woman sighed as Lexi's eyes narrowed. "That is as simple and honest as I can make it, you'll understand what I mean."

"There's just so many questions I want to ask you," Lexi finally vented, after a few minutes of silence by both of them.

"Of course," The figure replied, "But I want you to know now that my identity is only going to add to your amount of questions,"

"It feels like we've met before, that's the annoying thing – but yet I cannot place you to a face." Lexi said glancing down slightly, _even in my dream she didn't show me who she was. _

"I had to hide myself in all meetings, no matter the place until the time was right. You had to see what was happening around you first," Now there was movement, the figure moved closer about a foot or two. "Do you know why you were feeling so lost?"

"No, I mean, there was no complex explanation for it. I was just depressed or something," Lexi shrugged, "But what does this have to do with anything?" Lexi asked, _how did she know how I was feeling earlier? _Part of Lexi's whispering mind caught her attention, and she tensed up slightly – apparently the figure noticed this.

"You aren't wondering anything else?" The figure made it sound like a question, but both of them knew it was a statement.

"No," Lexi lied, as she decided to now wrap her arms around herself slightly as well as fidgeting her legs around a little to stop the chill of the night affecting her limbs.

"I see," Came the reply that said 'I don't believe you, and you know it' in two short words accompanied with an almost flat tone. The figure moved next to Lexi, but she looked out across the city. Lexi watched the woman, uncaring that she was staring.

"It's a nice city at night," Lexi said, turning to face the same way as the woman.

"Yes, though walking through the park was the best place at night. All the lights from the stars and from the streets gave it a nice glow that I couldn't find matched anywhere else in the city."

"Weren't you worried about being attacked at night? This city is full of enemies that have mutated powers, surely even in your time."

"In my time, there is only one enemy with mutated powers and you met him today. All of the other enemies are either in jail, or just lurking in the slums and darker areas of the city hoping to avoid Time Skip."

"They're respectful or him, or fearful?"

"Both, their fear outweighs their respect, but it's still present. They hope that he'll call on some of them for chores, or dirty work but he's not that kind of villain." The figure paused, "He's much more than any other villain that's ever existed in this modern time. He makes sure if there's any dirty work he does it so it's done the way he wants, and gets the results he wants. He also doesn't need any other enemies to be any scarier or powerful,"

"But he was just some teenager when we faced him, some teenager who got a hold of his grandfather's time mechanics and was able to adapt them so he could use them."

"That was in the past, he's not a teenager in my time. He's a calculated, sly man. The meteor did things to his body, he realised that he could control time without his grandfather's mechanics – they just allowed him more flexibility over which areas of time he dealt with. All those clocks and such you saw on him control a different part of time,"

"So, what doesn't make sense is why he's come back to the past. I mean, he's got complete control of the whole city, why come back and change that? He's not a good man," Lexi turned to the figure boldly, forgetting her nervousness. The figure's shoulders slumped slightly,

"That…that was my fault," The figure answered Lexi's question after a good long pause and sigh,

"Your fault? Why didn't you go to the Loonatics for help? I mean, surely in the future they've got technology that makes ours look pretty out-dated and useless," Lexi's mind made her ask more questions in one go than she wanted to, but she had too many questions to keep just brushing to the side.

"Lexi, listen to me. Do you think if the Loonatics were as good as you think they were that Time Skip would've been able to seize control of the _whole _city?" The figure snapped at Lexi, tone rough and full of anger. Lexi took a step back, something in that comment unsettled her and she backed off. The figure rose her hand to her forehead, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come across like that – it's just that's a sensitive area for me."

"I shouldn't have asked," Lexi found herself saying, as she turned away.

"I was expecting you to ask it, actually. I just…wasn't ready to answer, even if I told myself I was." The figure whispered in a hoarse voice, their calmness and certainty gone from their tone and their posture. Lexi angled her head over to the figure again, her long green ribbon came unhooked from her armour as it now fluttered around at the same pace as the figure's cloak. The green ribbon seemed to attract the figure's attention, for they moved closer and reached out to let the ribbon slip through their fingers. The figure was only an inch or two taller than Lexi, and they wore black armour with a silver chain hooked on at their wrist which trailed up to their shoulder.

Their long delicate fingers eventually let go of the ribbon, and they stepped back, Lexi felt their gaze upon her.

"Green is a nice colour," The figure said, her brief topic of conversation rather random.

"Yeah, I know…I like green, even though I also like pink." Lexi smiled faintly,

"They go well together, at least. No clash," The figure responded, "Pink is a bold, feminine colour. But green, well green is neutral and calm."

"Green reminds me a lot of nature," Lexi said, "My parents often took me out when I was younger to the parks, I like the greenery that accompanies spring and summer, plus it matches my eyes." Lexi told the figure,

"That's when there were a lot of parks around, when you live in a metropolis that declines, sadly." The figure continued, Lexi paused, something about that sentence sounded funny – like she knew of the times Lexi spoke of.

"You know, you still haven't told me who you are. You made it clear you know the villain, and you're against him, but you don't like the Loonatics either. So what's your part in all of this? You haven't explained Time Skip, but perhaps it'd be better to hear about you first." Lexi confronted the figure, "You _dislike_ the Loonatics, but yet _you_ come to _us_. That doesn't add up, how do I know you're not with him? You left a little too quickly after my team-mate Duck accused you of working with him,"

"Duck is very confrontational naturally, you know that. I can't explain to the guys much about me, that's why I had to flee because they might have worked something out and that's dangerous. Hell, even meeting you like this is dangerous and you're the primary reason I came back here." The figure turned, and then moved forwards so abruptly that Lexi tensed up. Her eyes flashed pink, and her ears straightened out ready to fire her blast if necessary. "You don't understand, I know. And I've got a lot of talking and explaining to do, but you've got to trust me Lexi, you've got to side with me and side away from your team."

"What? Side away from my team? Have you gone mad?" Lexi cried out in shock,

"No, I know what I'm talking about. You and I have to take on Time Skip, with as little aid from your team as possible, otherwise nothing will change! Everything will keep repeating, and repeating." The figure gripped Lexi with a strength that, for a moment in their confrontation, reminded the female rabbit of Slam.

"You're not making any sense!" Lexi tried to shake off the grip, but to no avail.

"You want me to make sense? Fine, choose the difficult way. Don't say I didn't warn you, my identity is going to throw you right off." The figure let go of Lexi, and took a great step backwards. She didn't reach for the hood of her cloak, she just gripped the buckles fastened by her neck and then pulled it off and let the cloak fall to her feet. Lexi took in the sight, opened her mouth but couldn't get any words to pass her lips. She stumbled backwards a few steps; the figure unfolded their arms as if suddenly regretting their outburst, and the argument between the two of them, before they dropped their gaze that held embarrassment.

Then Lexi fainted.


	5. Chapter 5

Next chapter, here we are. =)

There is one reaaaally _tiny_ little hint of a spoiler of an episode, just so you readers are aware.

Apologies for the long delay, do enjoy. =D

Lexi wasn't unconscious for long, she came back around to reality after a few minutes. She opened her eyes, took a steadying breath and then sat up. She felt a little strange, as she gazed forwards it felt like she were looking into a mirror – except her reflection was several years older than her.

"Sorry," The younger Lexi said, sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck nervously. Though she had no idea as to why she was nervous in front of herself, the idea made her feel sillier rather than more nervous - which help her relax a little further.

"Don't worry, I did kind of expect you to do that at one point." The older Lexi smiled sympathetically, as she sat in a kneeling position not far from her younger version who was watching back with intensely confused green eyes.

"So, care to explain why I'm staring at myself?" The younger Lexi asked, bringing her knees up to her chin and then wrapping her arms around herself and her legs. The night air was starting to bite a little, and since it seemed like the two were going to be speaking a while, Lexi settled herself down a bit more.

"Like I said previously, I came back because of Time Skip – he's ruined the future, _our_ future. The only way I can see of successfully stopping him is to play his game," The older Lexi answered,

"Wait, wait, back when you saved me from him…how did you use Ace's powers?" The younger Lexi suddenly interrupted with another question, causing her older version to roll her eyes.

"It's not a nice story," The older Lexi spoke after a moments pause, her green eyes softening as she answered the question.

"Well, we've got all night to talk about this." The younger Lexi replied, bracing herself for whatever her older version was going to tell her. "Go ahead,"

The older Lexi sighed heavily, before speaking, "Time Skip went to prison ages ago, when he was practically a teenager – remember?" Her younger self nodded, encouraging her older self to continue. "But unlike most of the thugs in there he was sly. As he got older, he matured and got clever. His abilities had improved quite impressively, even his grandfather wasn't sure how he had managed to develop and enhance the time-wielding powers he had." The older Lexi sighed heavily, "We should've done something about him early on, but we didn't – we were having enough problems within our own group, even crime fighting was become a rarity. Of course, by the time we had all worked out the threat Time Skip posed, he'd already gone. He vanished for a while, we found nothing of him – no one could, not even his family or the top detectives."

"But he was bound to turn up eventually," The younger Lexi murmured, it was the older Lexi's turn to nod this time in response.

"Exactly, and the trouble was the Loonatics weren't ready for him at all. Time Skip could already focus his abilities onto specific things, but he had also developed a keen skill of summoning mechanical creatures of time – slaves to him as he is the supposed 'Master of Time'. He set off simultaneous attacks that required us to split up – which we were far too willing to do – he stole all of our powers using Sypher's powers mixed with a piece of technology."

"Sypher? How did Time Skip manage to persuade that selfish criminal to help him? Sypher was the most selfish villain we've ever encountered!" Lexi exclaimed, her older self gave a light laugh.

"Yeah, we asked ourselves the same question. Turns out, if Sypher leant some of his powers to the device for Time Skip's use, in return Time Skip would free Sypher from the prison he was in." The older Lexi said, shaking her head slightly. "Most of the villains became terrified of Time Skip – even if they didn't openly admit it. After all, how could you get rid of someone who could control the time around you? They'd stop you before you even got close," The older Lexi exasperated,

"So, Time Skip stole all of your powers…then what?" Lexi asked, tilting her head to the side upon her folded arms.

"Since we were all powerless, we regrouped desperately. But Time Skip had already predicted that'd be our move, he was waiting for us when we all grouped back together. He knew the Loonatics had been suffering internal disputes and difficulties, it took little work in firing attacks to provoke the team before we were arguing amongst ourselves. He could've killed us all there and then, but he seemed to be enjoying mucking around with us – not that we cared at that particular moment, we were too fussed about who'd just annoyed another."

"Didn't you guys think of fleeing? I mean, he couldn't use your powers against you but he could control time – that seems pretty unfair on the team."

"Well, you know how stubborn both Ace and Duck are at the thought of retreating from battle – and since they were both so angry at each other, it made them even more reluctant to leave the fight but eventually we did flee. However, this allowed Time Skip to move from toying around to attacking…" The older Lexi trailed off, "Perhaps I should tell you about a new ability Time Skip developed before I continue…" The older Lexi shifted around to cross her legs, rather than sit upon them. "Time Skip's armour aids him control time, after all time is always flexing and shifting. When he has all of the clocks fully charged, he can fire this…this attack which will only affect the first thing it hits – the thing it hits is then completely erased out of time." The older Lexi shuddered from the memory in her mind,

Lexi felt the warmth leave her face, as a terrible cold feelings began to crawl across her. The older Lexi turned away,

"This attack he used against us, we were flying back with our jetpacks – most of the guys were in some argument until Ace saw the attack. Tech had a new shield he'd been testing, but it didn't activate when it should've. The attack hit Duck and Slam, since they were squabbling it was barely a clip of a hit but it was enough. They starting dissolving into light within seconds of the hit, the rest of us were torn – we desperately wanted to turn back around and get revenge, but we also knew if we got hit with that attack we'd never be able to do anything again..." The older version stopped once more, her voice had been shaking throughout the last sentence, and she recalled the events in her mind's eye.

"…Either way, he took out the rest of the team, didn't he?" The younger Lexi's voice was barely above a whisper, but that was not a problem since they both possessed enhanced hearing. The older Lexi's reply was a curt nod,

"Fate cruelly decided I'd be the last one standing, and rather than kill me off as quickly as he'd done with the rest, Time Skip decided to play around once more first. I didn't want to go on, I won't lie to you – I wanted to give up, and follow as the guys had done. After all, how could I be 'the Loonatics' just by myself? I didn't even have my powers, and to top it all off the last memory the guys and I had had of each other was anger and arguments, a brief spell of fear…and then nothing."

"But you couldn't have given up, or you wouldn't be here. None of us would be here," The younger Lexi replied, sitting forwards slightly towards her older self. The older version gave a sad smile back,

"True, but that doesn't mean I'm encouraged either. Well, the police force tried to help – after all, we…I was their last hero, and they attacked furiously. But Time Skip easily avoided it. However, I realised I could use this as a distraction – since Time Skip was close to the ground, I was able to fly straight at his unprepared back. I hit him from behind, trying to grab the gun with mine and my former team-mates abilities in. We struggled with each other for a few minutes, upon an opening I managed to smash the glass holding cell when the police tried to get another shot on Time Skip. I felt the rush of power as my ability returned, but then I felt a kind of over surge of power, powers that weren't my own but had nowhere else to go. All of my team-mates abilities surged into me when I had reached out to grab the magical essence released as I smashed the glass cell."

The older Lexi lifted her hands, a silvery magical aura surrounding her palms upon her silent command. "All of our colours fused to form silver, for some reason." The older Lexi murmured, her eyes igniting in a bright silver flash.

"Hence your armour and cloak colour choice…" Lexi smiled faintly, watching the silver essence dancing around her older version's slender fingers. The silver light was comforting to her, after all when she'd felt rather depressed recently – it was always the silver figure in her dreams that chased away that sadness. Lexi felt once more as if she were in a dream, as she realised that it actually been herself in the dream as her own hero – it had started as soon as the guys had started to get snappy at each other. Lexi frowned slightly, her mind trying to piece together any possible links – until her future self's voice snapped her out of her thinking mind.

"Time Skip charged up that attack, but I was quicker and I was _very _angry at the loss of all my team-mates. My attack ripped off one of the clocks from his armour, I took it and then fled – after all I had both Rev's super speed and Duck's teleportation abilities – mix them together and it's quite the combination." The older Lexi unclipped a central panel of her chest plate armour after she had finished speaking, revealing a ticking clock fused into the central part of her chest armour. "This allowed me to become resistant to Time Skip's abilities, I hoped this would allow me to capture him once more, and get him to undo the damage he had done. Unfortunately, he was already planning ahead – and this is where you come in,"

"How so?" Lexi croaked, surprising herself with her suddenly weak voice – she was a superhero, after all. The older Lexi sighed,

"Think about it, in his time the one obstacle in his way is resistant to his abilities. _And _that obstacle now has a part of his main weapon – he can't fire that monstrosity of an attack without this clock I have."

"But that's you, not me. I don't have the clock!" Lexi cried, standing up and gripping her head with her hands. Her older version, from where she sat, rose her hands up in a soothing gesture and started to explain when Lexi saw something in the sky above her. A soft, pale green circle was forming in the air. An inner circle formed, rotating, Lexi remained confused until two ghostly clock hands appeared and started to wind on the ghostly clock and a humanoid figure could be seen fazing through,

"Er…me, we might have a problem!" Lexi pointed above her, her older form jumping to her feet and spinning to face the direction her younger self was pointing in with an ever so slightly shaky hand.

"In order to stop a flower from blooming, you need to destroy the roots." Time Skip grinned darkly, a large mechanical bird forming up behind him, its clock-like eyes focusing onto the two rabbits standing below. Lexi gulped softly,

"So…to stop you being a problem, he has to come back and kill me so that there isn't a future Lexi to get in his way." Lexi whispered, her older version gave a grim nod. Then she grabbed a hold of her younger self and pulled her close, Time Skip's grin widened in a frenzied kind of madness as both of his targets were now in front of him.


End file.
